Found a cracked trace on a motherboard after 3 hours of diagnostics last week

I was chasing a no-boot issue on an old HP office PC and finally spotted it near the RAM slot with a cheap magnifying lamp I grabbed at Harbor Freight. How often do you guys actually find physical damage like that vs just swapping parts until something works?

3 comments

3 Comments

wadepalmer25d agoMost Upvoted

Three hours with a Harbor Freight lamp? That's brutal.

the_viola25d ago

Do you think that counts as a lifetime achievement award for patience? Because I'm pretty sure I earned some kind of medal sitting there squinting at a flickering bulb for half a shift. My eyes still feel like I've been staring into a strobe light, you know, one of those disco ones from the 70s. But hey, for fifteen bucks and a coupon, you get what you pay for, and that's a lesson I apparently need to learn every six months.

bailey.sandra24d ago

My record is just over four hours with one of their UV glue curing lights before I gave up and admitted the part was just never gonna set. I sat there holding my phone flashlight on the joint like a complete clown, hoping for a miracle. My neighbor walked by my garage and asked if I was trying to communicate with aliens or just really into bad life choices. I think at that point I told him both, and then I had to explain why there was a little plastic bracelet half-glued to my workbench. That lamp is probably still in the back of my truck somewhere, gathering dust and shame. Anyway, good to know I'm not the only one who treats those coupons like a dare from the universe.